The SMP two-year-old classroom provides a secure and nurturing learning environment where the children begin to develop their social and emotional skills. Lessons on being part of a group, sharing, taking turns, and making friends are seamlessly woven into all of our “themes.”

Within the classroom we also provide the two’s with daily opportunities to develop their language, listening, and communication skills, as well as a love of literature. They practice counting and sorting, and begin to use their five senses to gather information and explore the environment.

Some of the themes in the two’s classroom are:

Nursery rhymes

Colors

Harvest

Seasons

Snow

Bears

Planting

Farm life

Yoga Class

Our two, three- Pre-K classes participate in a yoga class once a week led by Stephanie Goodkind, former preschool teacher and owner of Movin' Groovin' Yoga for Kids.

Using methods such as games, stories, songs, and props, Miss Stephanie helps the children deveop their body awareness, balance, strength, posture, and flexibility. Miss Stephanie’s philosophy focuses on keeping the class fun, which leads to a high interest level and consistent leaning opportunities. As the children explore their inner selves through the yoga classes, they begin to develop key motor skills and life long wellness habits.

Our Curriculum

Pre-Kindergarten

Music Class

Each week the children in the 3's and Pre-K classes enjoy a 30 minute music class with Angeline Brown. Miss Angeline has a Bachelor’s degree in Music and a Master’s degree in Music Therapy.

Miss Angeline believes that music is an innate part of every child, and provides a wonderful, unique medium through which learning and growth can happen. Miss Angeline uses varied musical activities including singing, instrument playing, creative play with props, and musical books/stories to enhance each child’s natural musicality and creativity.

The “Toddler’s Creed” appeared in a syndicated weekly newspaper article “Families Today” by T. Berry Brazelton. It is a nice reminder of what life is like from the perspective of a two-year-old. Enjoy!

Three-Year-Old Program​

Spanish

Children's Chapel

Thursday mornings at St. Matthew’s Preschool, you’ll find our two, three- and Pre-K students making their way to to our beautiful Children's Chapel with Father John Zahl. They tip-toe, bounce, and run their way into 15-20 minutes of story, song and sharing that puts their lives within the greater context of Jesus' love for them and for all creation. The gathering is welcoming of all faith traditions and holds as its simple premise the belief that Jesus loves us, every one.

When the children visit the Chapel each week Father Zahl teaches the Christian values of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and respect for themselves and others.

Two-Year-Old Program

Westmoreland Sanctuary

Nature play significantly improves all aspects of child development – physical, cognitive, social and emotional.

Playing outdoors grows resilience, self-confidence, initiative, creativity and more. It encourages the joy of movement; it nurtures wild imaginations, experimentation, friendships, social connections and behavior.

The children will participate in monthly studies with a Westmoreland Sanctuary Naturalist on the beautiful grounds of St. Matthew's Preschool. These studies will include:

Stream Study - Fall and Spring

Decomposer Nature Hike

Reptiles

Mammals

Birds

Snow Study

Plants

Kindergarten readiness is the name of the game in the Pre-K classroom. The children are energetic, imaginative, and eager to soak up all of the new experiences they are presented with. Most four-year-olds enjoy chatting and having conversations with friends and adults alike. They have discovered humor and enjoy finding the silliness in the mundane. All of the social skills and lessons learned in the twos and threes are reinforced in the fours in order to provide a solid foundation for future growth and development.

The SMP's Pre-K classroom provides a secure and nurturing learning environment where the children are engaged in active learning. Discovery and exploration play a role in each lesson and the children are exposed to many new concepts during the year. The alphabet is introduced, non-sequentially, in a developmentally appropriate way and the children are given numerous and varied opportunities to practice the skill of “writing.” Reading readiness activities are incorporated into the curriculum as well; rhyming, alliteration, and the recognition of sound patterns and predictability within a story. As with all the classes, quality children’s literature is incorporated into every unit.

Within the classroom we also provide the Pre-K students with daily opportunities to build on all of the skills they have acquired thus far. Concepts covered in the four’s include counting, patterning, measuring, predicting, sequencing, and comparing.

Some of the themes in the Pre-K classroom are:

Friends

Apples

Nutrition

Hygiene

The Five Senses

Friendship

Dinosaurs

Weather

Planting

Sea life

It's never too early to begin learning a new language. Learning a new language in the Early Childhood environment promotes healthy development and many cognitive and social benefits that your child will carry with them for a lifetime. Studies show that children proficient in other languages show signs of enhanced creativity and mental flexibility.

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At St. Matthew's Preschool children in the 3's and Pre-K classes are taught Spanish weekly with our Spanish Teacher Ms. Yuri Mejia (Miss Judy). Through songs, sight words and verbal language the children learn the Spanish Language in an active learning environment.

Three is a magical age!! Children at this age are full of imagination and enthusiasm. They spend a lot of time observing and imitating others, especially the adults in their lives. Socially, they are more likely to play with another child rather than just alongside. They are continuing to grow and develop at an incredible rate and the changes we see from the beginning of the year until the end can only be described as magical!

The three-year-olds are also full of wonder, and full of questions. They always want to know “Why?” and expect us to have all the answers.

The SMP's three-year-old classroom provides a secure and nurturing learning environment where the children are able to discover some of those answers on their own. While social and emotional development is still the cornerstone of the daily interactions, there are many more opportunities for exploring and enjoying the world around them. Each day, through carefully prepared lessons, the children engage in hands-on activities designed to capture their interest and feed their curiosity.

Within the classroom we continue to provide the three’s with daily opportunities to enhance their language, listening, and communication skills, as well as develop a life-long love of literature. They practice counting, sorting, and patterning, and learn to recognize their names in both upper and lower case letters.

Some of the themes in the three’s classroom are:

Self and Family

Community

Colors/Shapes

Harvest

Seasons

Hibernation

Penguins

Eggs

Planting

Pond life

TODDLER’S CREEDIf I want it, it’s mine. If I give it to you and change my mind later, it’s mine. If I can take it away from you, it’s mine. If I had it a little while ago, it’s mine. If it’s mine, it will never belong to anybody else, no matter what. If we are building something together, all the pieces are mine. If it looks just like mine, it is mine.